Horki: candidate is threatened with changes in biography and prohibition to publish his electoral program

02.09.2008. Tags: Belarusian Popular Front, human rights defenders, elections-2008.

Constituency electoral commission #81 threatens Andrei Yurkou, a candidate for deputy from the Belarusian Popular Front Adradzhenne, with introduction of changes in his biography and prohibition to publish his electoral program in the local newspaper.

‘Yesterday I came to the electoral commissions to present for publication my autobiography’, says the candidate for deputy Yurkou, ‘but the head of the commission Karotkina stated that my autobiography needed to be corrected and they would do it on their own if I did not do it myself. She disliked that I did not write that I was unemployed at the moment, though it’s up to a candidate to write or not write about such things,’ Yurkou said.

Together with his autobiography Mr. Yurkou also presented to the electoral commission his electoral program, which he had already taken to the local state newspaper for publication.

‘Karotkina did not like the electoral program either’, says Yurkou’s proxy Illia Zaranok. ‘She explained that our wish to return social guarantees to the population was fomentation of social enmity. She also said that our wish to prevent the construction of a nuclear power plant in Horki was wrong, because such a station would never explode and we just lied to the population that there was a possibility of it happening. She also called a lie our wish to protect the people who have to work 2-5 years to pension, as the authorities would never raise the pension age.’  

‘At the end of our talk’, said Andrei Yurkou, ‘the head of the electoral commission said she would not publish our program in the newspaper, though it is not in her powers. Now I am preparing an appropriate complaint to the constituency electoral commission against the actions of the head of Horki electoral commission #81 Karotkina.’

Mr. Yurkou also said that he was not going to ‘correct’ his program and autobiography and that he’d rather be punished after their publication should any violations be found there.

Human rights activist Barys Bukhel says that the Electoral Code does not require candidates to mention in their autobiographies whether they are employed or unemployed. The refusal to publish Yurkou’s electoral program would be a violation of Article 75 of the Electoral Code, which precisely describes what is allowed or prohibited for promotion in ones’ program.

Human rights activists for free elections

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